Food & Drink

These superfood energy balls are loaded with all the goodness. From heart-healthy oats, natural almond butter and medjool dates as a base, to loading in any of your other superfood hero’s. Chia, pumpkin seeds,and hemp hearts are my usual go to’s when looking for a big nutritious punch. To sweeten up this snack, add in some antioxidant berries (in this recipe I used a great cherry, cranberry, blueberry mix) or if you want to indulge, add in some dark chocolate chips.

These balls come together in a quick 10 minutes or so and you can easily adapt to your liking. I’ll share my other go to recipe soon!

These are a great snack on the go and make for the perfect pre or post workout snack, plus they will leave you feeling guilt-free if you’re just looking for something to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Superfood Energy Balls (yields ~12)

1 cup old fashioned oats

3/4 cup almond butter (or your choice of nut butter)

1/4 cup ground flax seed

2 tbsp chia

2 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds

2 tbsp favorite dried fruit

3 medjool dates, pitted

2 tbsp maple syrup (honey or brown rice syrup works well too)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine dates, almond butter, dried berries and maple syrup in food processor and pulse until dates are fully chopped and everything is combined

In a bowl mix together oats, flax seed, chia, pumpkin seeds, and cinnamon

Add date and almond butter mixture and stir until fully combined. If the mixture is not quite sticky enough for you (this can vary depending on the nut butter you use) just add a bit more maple syrup or nut butter into the mixture

Roll into 1 inch balls. Place balls into an airtight container and store in the fridge or freezer for snacking throughout the week

Here’s to a happy and healthier year ahead. With that in mind comes lots of new healthy recipes and in 2018, I am definitely going to focus on more plant-based eats. I came across this amazing recipe a few weeks back from Bon Appetit and finally got around to making these delicious cauliflower steaks. Wow wow wow!! It is a new favourite that I’ll make again and again.

Check out the dish below (with a few modifications) from one of my favourite recipe sources – Bon Appetit

Salsa Prep:

Heat oil and capers in a small saucepan over medium, swirling often, until capers burst and are golden brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Carefully pour oil and capers into a small heatproof bowl; let cool.

Mix in walnuts, chile, parsley, currants, vinegar, and lemon zest; season with salt.** Salsa can be made 1 day ahead, covered with plastic, pressing directly onto surface. Bring to room temperature before using **

Cauliflower Prep & Assembly:

Remove the toughest outer leaves from cauliflower (leave on any tender inner leaves). Trim stem to create a flat base. Resting cauliflower on stem, cut in half from top to bottom, creating two lobes with stem attached. Trim outer rounded edge of each piece to create two 1½”-thick “steaks” (the stem should hold the florets together); set steaks aside. Very coarsely chop remaining florets.

Cook florets in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until very tender, 6–8 minutes. Drain well, then process in a food processor with garlic, lemon juice, tahini, and 1 tbsp water until smooth; season with salt. Set aside. **Purée can also be made a day in advance and heated before plating**

Heat oven to 425° for roasting cauliflower.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add earth balance spread or butter, swirl until melted, then add cauliflower steaks, oregano, and lemon zest. Cook, gently lifting up cauliflower occasionally to let hot fat run underneath, until steaks are deep golden brown (if oregano or lemon start to burn, place on top of steaks). Turn steaks and season with salt. Transfer skillet to oven and roast until cauliflower stems are fork-tender, 10–15 minutes.

To serve, spoon about 1/4 cup cauliflower purée onto plates and place steaks on top. Spoon salsa over and sprinkle with salt. Serve with lemon wedges.

We are officially on holidays and couldn’t be happier; sitting here sipping my coffee and homemade Baileys, anticipating the days to come and reflecting on the amazing year that was had. It’s these simple moments before the day begins that I really want to savour more often. The calmness and joy that comes from sitting and enjoying a cup of java rather than rushing out the door with a cup in hand. And with the holidays amongst us, your regular cup of joe can become much more festive with this quick and easy clean Irish Cream.

For the last two years, I have been loving my homemade Coconut Baileys Irish Cream, but this year wanted to try a recipe that didn’t involve stove time and one that was a bit lighter on the calories. Here comes my newest version, Almond Coconut Irish Cream.

It’s healthier, cleaner, dairy-free, paleo-friendly, vegan friendly and pretty amazing in my opinion. It’s easy to double or triple the recipe and makes for a great gift giving idea too!

Well it has been quite some time since I have posted, my sincerest apologies. 2017 has been a very exciting and busy year, from becoming engaged, planning a wedding, getting married and then honeymooning! It has been the best, but I have missed being in the kitchen and connecting with all my dear followers, but now I am back. 🙂

I promise 2018 will bring lots of new things and I will post an update soon on all the fun we have been having, but in the meantime, I am finding inspiration again in the kitchen and wanted to share. Even though, there was some debate in my head on whether to post with pictures or without as my camera is donezo and these photo’s aren’t great, but this dish is too good not to share.

For the month of October, we were away in Bali, enjoying all the honeymoon bliss and boy, were we ever inspired with all the delicious food and drinks that were had. We were absolutely blown away in every way. From their local Indonesian fare to some of the best Italian food we have ever had, the food in Bali was incredible. Wow wow wow! Not to mention all the local and plant based food they served; it really inspired me to pay more attention to my food consumption and habits.

Last week, we were hit with a cold spell in the city and I was craving warm and spicy dishes to warm the soul. I decided to finally give one of my favourite Thai dishes, a try. Tom Yum, was super easy to make and turned out amazing that I found myself going back for seconds and could have gone back for thirds. This is definitely becoming part of our weekly rotation.

The ingredients in this soup easily blend together for some amazing flavour. One thing to note is do taste test as you go, add a little bit of this and a little bit of that if you need, don’t be shy here, this is how I developed such an amazing soup. If you want it more spicy add in more chilli, prefer it less creamy skip a can of coconut milk, if it is too sour add in more sugar. The great thing about this dish, is once you get the broth portion to your liking, you can add in whatever you like in terms of veg or protein. Don’t be scared off by the number of ingredients, it is SO GOOD!! I also chose to make mine extra brothy, so feel free to add more veg or less liquid if you prefer.

Tom Yum (yields 6-8 servings)

1400 ml no salt added vegetable broth

2 cans coconut milk (1 regular and 1 light)

1 tsp of sugar (your choice, I used cane)

3 tbsp tom yum paste

1 tbsp lemongrass paste or the lower third of lemongrass stalk cut into matchsticks

1 tbsp ginger, grated

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt

2-4 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 small bunch of green onions, finely chopped

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 zucchini, sliced into half mooons

half a cup of cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

8-10 mushrooms, sliced

Thai rice noodles

2 cups of shrimp, I used cooked but raw would be best

handful of cilantro

Pour broth and coconut milk into a large saucepan and set over medium. Whisk in sugar, tom yum paste, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and chilli-garlic sauce. Cover and bring to a boil

I love Mexican flavours and try to often think of interesting ways to incorporate the flavour profiles outside of the beloved taco. Even though, I could eat taco’s every single day!

After a little inspiration from Pinch of Yum, this Chipotle Sweet Potato Noodle recipe is a new favourite dish added to the weeknight rotation!

Sweet, spicy, smokey, hearty and fresh; this noodle recipe is simple and healthy and an easy go-to recipe to whip up. The chipotle dressing and sweet potato noodles make for an amazing base that you can simply add any toppings of your choice and you are set for a delicious meal. I worked with what I had on hand, peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno, kale, avocado, pepitas, goat feta, and cilantro. However, this would be equally as awesome with some black beans and roasted corn. And you can easily omit the cheese to keep this vegan friendly.

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped peppers and saute until soft.

Pulse the dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust to your liking.

Remove, wipe skillet and add a little more olive oil over medium heat. Add the sweet potato noodles and toss for a minute or two until softened (no more than 5). Also, toss in a 2 TBSP of the dressing to coat noodles.